Microtones

Our newsletter-first column brings you the notes between the notes.

Emily Mills is shown roller skating during an intro rollout for the Madison Roller Derby home team the Reservoir Dolls. They are wearing a mask, a white helmet, and an all-black uniform. Their shirt, though partially obscured in the photo, reads "Trans Athletes Belong Here." They seem to be smiling behind their mask. They have fashioned the trans flag as a cape, and it's swept up in the wind behind them. One of their hands is clutching the flag's ends together as they skate, while the other is outstretched. They're wearing a white helmet and are in mid-stride, surrounded by a few of their Reservoir Doll teammates.

Roller derby’s beautiful radicalism

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May 9, 2025

The subculture's diversity, gender-inclusion, and democratic system offers a vision of the world we could live in.

Latest in Microtones
A black-and-white photo shows the three members of Killdozer posing in loudly patterned button-up shirts. They are crouched and wearing thoughtful expressions.
Die, die, miss “American Pie”
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May 2, 2025

Killdozer's masterful cover of a godawful "classic" endures.

An illustration depicts a weathered doormat made of the Wisconsin state flag, with a pair of jackboots sitting on top of it and bloodstains spreading out from the boots.
Wisconsin’s leaders need to stop being doormats
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April 25, 2025

Lawsuits and stern statements won't cut it—and nothing short of escalated resistance will.

Portraits of Susan Crawford and Brad Schimel are placed side-by-side and distorted with a filter.
The SCOWIS race was about more than Elon Musk
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April 11, 2025

Money amplified the message, but didn't buy Republicans a way out.

An illustration shows a cardboard box surrounded by tangles of barbed wire. The box is marked "books" on one surface and "return to sender" on another.
Wisconsin Books to Prisoners goes back to square one
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April 4, 2025

Prison officials have offered a path forward, but it's not great.

Two laptops are open on either side of a desk that's pushed against a white wall. The laptop on the left is open to the home page of The Yellow Button, the laptop on the right is open to the home page of see/saw. Between the laptops, from closest to the camera to furthest away, are a synth, a microphone clamped into a small stand, and two drumsticks in front of a practice drum pad.
A new wave of Wisconsin punk commentary
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March 21, 2025

The Yellow Button, see/saw, and the shape of music coverage to come.

A photo shows an aisle at a closing Joann Fabrics store with an empty expanse of product racks. Several white rectangular signs at the top of the shelves on the right-hand side read "VALUE YARN" in black lettering.
Excavating creativity and joy out of Joann’s remains
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March 14, 2025

The importance of arts, crafts, and imagination as the world collapses.

A photo shows a medium-sized dog, of the black lab breed, sitting on a rug and looking up at the camera. Several crumpled empty beer cans sit at her feet.
A reflection on Wisconsin music’s cultural connection to alcohol
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March 7, 2025

Several local musicians sound off on the struggle.

A still from the film "L.A. Confidential" shows actor Danny DeVito in the role of a tabloid journalist, Sid Hudgens. Hudgens is shown in a close-up shot, holding a telephone receiver in an office, with covers from his gossip publication "Hush-Hush" hanging on the wall in the background.
Madison needs an evil gossip rag
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February 21, 2025

A gross proposal for desperate times.

A black and white illustrated portrait of former Madison police chief Shon Barnes.
Scratching the surface of Shon Barnes
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February 14, 2025

Madison's former police chief had a lot to say. But what did he do?